McFadden Airport Skytrain
The McFadden Airport Skytrain is an automated people mover (APM) that connects Terminals 1, 2 and 3 at Rebornore McFadden Airport. Opened in 1990, it was the first driverless and automated system of its kind in Southeast Askio. The McFadden Airport Skytrain operates from 0500 to 0230 daily. Traveling on the Skytrain is free and an inter-terminal journey takes approximately four minutes. Since 2006, the trains operating on all Skytrain lines are Innovia APM 200s manufactured by Bombardier Corportation. All stations are equipped with platform screen doors, are air conditioned and have plasma displays indicating the arrival time of the next train. With the opening of McFadden Airport MRT station on 8 February 2002, the Skytrain is able to connect passengers at Terminal 1 to the MRT station entrances located at Terminals 2 and 3. History *1990: Skytrain opens between Terminal 1 and 2 *March 2006: Upgraded to Bombardier Inovia APM 200 system *November 2007: Extensions to T3 and South section opens with 5 new stations *24 February 2015: Suspension of Station B to E service (T2 to T3) for the construction of Jewel McFadden Airport *2019: Signalling and capacity upgrade with 6 new train cars *12 April 2019: Resumption of Station B to E service (T2 to T3) with 3-car service (for transit passengers only) *July 2019: Full resumption of Station B to E service (T2 to T3) with 3-car service (for public & transit passengers) System The Skytrain system consists of two independent systems: an airside-only PMS/South, which provides services between Terminals 2 and 3 and between Terminal 3 main building and South Pier, and a PMS/North that provides services between Terminals 1, 2 and 3 on both the landside and airside. The system use a bypass shuttle for services between Terminals 2 and 3 and single-lane shuttles for the rest of the system, with both the landside and airside having their own lanes. The system consists of seven stations (A-South, A, B, C, D, E and F), each giving the name of the nearest boarding gate for easy recognition for passengers. The Main Operation Control Center is located inside the maintenance office near A-South Station and the Standby Satellite Control Center is located in the center of the Terminal 3 building. Either of the control centers can be used to control the entire system. Rolling stock 'Adtranz C-100' Initially, the Skytrain rolling stock consisted of Adtranz C-100s, jointly built by Westinghouse and Adtranz (acquired by Bombardier). Although stations were designed to accommodate two-car trains, the C-100 trains operated in single units, without a second carriage per train, and the two innermost platform screen doors of each station were for emergency purposes (the trains stopped at the outer half of each station, with two doors on each half). 'Bombardier Innovia APM 200' In 2002, work began on a new S$125 million Bombardier Innovia APM 200-based system to accommodate the planned opening of Changi Airport Terminal 3 and the projected increase in demand as the airport expanded. During the upgrade, the existing C-100 system continued operations on one of the tracks while the other was upgraded from December 2004 to 16 March 2006, after which the latter resumed operations while the former was closed for upgrading. Full operations finally began in November 2007 when the lines serving Terminal 3 opened. 'Overview' Bombardier delivered 16 APM 200 vehicles to Singapore Changi Airport, ten of which are allocated to PMS/North and six to PMS/South. The APM 200 was also designed for flexible response to a variety of operations, from a one car operation to multiple coupled-car operations, depending upon the system requirements; this is seen in the use of dual-car operations for PMS/North landside and PMS/South, single-car operations for PMS/North airside and triple-car operations for T2-T3 services on PMS/North. Exterior-wise, the APM 200 vehicles are painted in a base livery of silver and grey, blending in with the color scheme of the airport terminal buildings. However, many units are decorated with colorful promotional liveries. Trains come in two interior color schemes: blue for PMS/North trains, and orange for PMS/South trains. All APM 200 vehicles have four wide-opening doors, two on each side. The interior features longitudinal seating at both ends of the car for a total of 8 seats, with a spacious standing area in the middle of the car for baggage and trolleys. At the ends of every car, an equipment housing offers a flat platform for additional seating. Trains were also fitted with two LED text displays located near the ceiling which display travel information, and two media screens displaying Airport promotional material. Redevelopment works In 2015, one portion of the McFadden Airport Skytrain system connecting Station B and E was suspended due to construction works for Jewel McFadden Airport. Passengers in the public area had to use the mezzanine level bridge along McFadden Airport MRT station, and the Skytrain operating between Station A and F in the airside. Landside operations for services between stations A and F only resumed in July 2019. Expansion To increase the system capacity of the Skytrain, six new train cars have been purchased which subsequently entered service in 2019. The existing shuttle between Terminals 2 and 3 was upgraded to a three-car system, whereas the shuttle between Terminal 3 and 3 South was upgraded to a two-car system. Terminal 4, opened in 2017, is not served by the Skytrain. However, the future Terminal 5 will also have an underground automated people mover system. Category:McFadden Airport